Chris Paasch

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Even though we're in the midst of a global financial crisis, a special horse can still bring a jaw-dropping amount. Better Than Honour, the dam of back-to-back Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winners Jazil and champion Rags to Riches, set a world Thoroughbred auction record for a broodmare or broodmare prospect Nov. 2 when her price soared to $14 million during the Fasig-Tipton November select mixed sale in Lexington.

Stardom Bound, winner of the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) and the probable champion 2-year-old filly, brought $5.7 million from IEAH Stables, which is headed by Michael Iavarone and Richard Schiavo, late in the afternoon of Nov. 2 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November select mixed sale. Her new trainer will be Rick Dutrow, who conditioned recently retired Kentucky Derby Presented By Yum! Brands (gr. I) and Preakness Stakes (gr. I) winner Big Brown for IEAH and partners.

Favorite Stardom Bound, with a bold move, quickly took command of the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I). Dream Empress was second and Sky Diva third. The final time in the 1 1/16-mile race was 1:40.99.

The first three finishers of the Del Mar Debutante (gr. I) have passed the entry box for the Sept. 27 Oak Leaf Stakes (gr. I). The two-turn, $250,000 race for 2-year-old fillies at the Oak Tree meeting figures to be a key prep for next month's Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I).

A full field of 14 fillies, headed by dual grade I winner Balance, is set to run for the lilies in Friday's Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) at Churchill Downs. If all 14 fillies start, the purse for the 1 1/8-mile race will swell to $685,900.

Crowned Dancer, among the leaders of Southern California's Triple Crown hopefuls last year, will attempt to show he belongs with the best of this year's 3-year-old crop in Saturday's $500,000 Lone Star Derby (gr. III).

Chris Paasch will shift his headquarters from California to Kentucky within the next month. "I'm moving my operation to Lexington, Kentucky, probably on March 1," the 45-year-old native of Rochester, N.Y. said Thursday morning at Santa Anita.